1961 Montrose

The 1961 Montrose is a wine I drank regularly when I was learning about Bordeaux, so I have plenty of experience over the years. It is a great Saint Estèphe, although readers should note that I have found considerable bottle variation with some displaying unwanted Bovril-like aromas. This was a perfectly sound example. Blackberry, graphite, Japanese nori and light sandalwood aromas furnish the nose, good vigour and intensity, but it does lose some of its initial impact after 30 minutes. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, distinctly earthy in style, especially compared to the 1961 Cos d'Estournel but with a clean, fresh, classic tobacco infused finish. Excellent. Tasted at the 1961 dinner Chairman Miaow’s in Hong Kong.

Tasted at the Montrose vertical in Stamford, the 1961 Montrose is another wine that I tasted regularly in the 1990 and 2000s. Two bottles were opened here, one showing a Bovril-like aromas on the nose, the other showing more freshness with tobacco and leather-infused red berry fruit that turns algae-like with time. I scored the second in the low nineties. However, a third bottle tasted in London relived some of those great encounters. Here it had a feisty and intense bouquet, earthy in style and interestingly I scribbled down a hint of Marmite (perhaps a different take on that Bovril note observed a few weeks earlier?), but here it is part of the aromatic profile. The palate is beautifully balanced with a gentle grip, intense dark cherries and tertiary notes, a touch of pomegranate towards the finish that is structured and loaded with cedar and tobacco. I noticed how this 1961 Montrose blossomed in the glass, so do not demur decanting this wine. Tasted June 2016.

Lively and fresh but with so much acid and tannin that it's too austere for comfort and is decidedly tough. Where's the fruit? This really is old-fasioned, pre-Peynaud wine. It had a flash of charm when served with cheese but then toughened up again. (JR)